Visited pretty much every season for the last 30 years and this is in one the 3 worst. It sits there with the awful hollowing out seasons of 2016 and 2017.
If I think of it on balance, the only positives were Alton Manor and the associated improvements to the ice cream kiosk and the shop. In fact, I liked Alton Manor the more I rode it and I think the whole project is a job very well done. Plus Sub Terra, which although still a flawed attraction, is very welcome and much needed.
But almost everything else either stayed the same or got worse. I'm including the rapids in that, as although the waterfalls made a welcome return, I'm not deluded enough to think this now makes it an acceptable ride. It's still tame, has no theming and is boring. Only this year it also incorporates some boring and pointless new music and an incredibly annoying Australian voiceover.
Upkeep - Worse. Everything is either another year of rot older or now painted job lot purple.
Events - Can't comment as only did Scarefest and it was better than last year.
Accommodation - Worse, with half the season carrying a laughable higher price tag to boot until people stopped booking. Tablets replacing desks. Last ditch attempt to save face later in the season. "Free" squash on a warm day whilst discounting heavily inflated initial prices doesn't make up for any of this.
Food and retail - Much much much worse. Other than Gloomy Wood, nothing else reopened, yet the quality of what remained declined significantly. Little choice, crap capacity and the basics now inedible.
Operations - Worse. Breakdowns galore. Still not allowed to wait for the monorail on the platform for no good reason whatsoever. Slow despatches. Out of control RAP. More guest services outlets only softens the blow slightly.
Hours - Worse
Lineup - Worse. Best coaster closed is a massive blow. Enterprise gone. No Hex. No Sky Ride. A late NST opening does not make up for this. Nemesis to reopen next year but no RS will make places like X Sector feel worse than ever next season.
Like 16 and 17, 23 will be a season to forget. That said, I genuinely believe that next season can't really be any worse. A new divisional director actually went onto YouTube to admit in politician terms that things were grim which does give some hope. The parks best attraction will be open again next year, NST will return and FV looks like it's having a proper makeover. If the excellent Alton Manor and Gloomy Wood work is anything to go by, we could be in for a treat. I think they also know where the accommodation breaking point is having reached it this season so I don't expect that to get any worse. We may strike gold and even get the fire back on Wicker Man. Poor operations may be masked by the fact it's highest capacity coaster will open again so there will at least be something to do when Galactica breaks down.
But I can't see anything else getting better. The rapids and Walliams World will likely be just as depressing as this season, although I hope the latter gets the FV/GW makeover for Horizon. I can see no changes to the awful Dark Forest area. X Sector will likely worsen with only two 1.4 MTR height restriction coasters in it and nothing else to do. Everything else will likely be another year older, dirtier and more dilapidated, safe for the odd vinyl and purple paint covered paint brush being slopped around here and there.
Merlin has been private now for 4 years. Some of the more minor stuff should have been dealt with a long time ago, up to and including before the 2023 season even started. What have they been doing in all this time? Who looked at what was being offered at the beginning of the season and thought it was OK? If we are to believe that the good things that came out of 2023 are the standard we are to expect in the future, then they certainly haven't made it easy on themselves.
